This invention relates in general to devices used for the dispensing of single paper articles from a tightly nested stack of such articles, such as coffee filters used in drip brewing coffee machines.
Drip brewing coffee machines generally require the use of paper coffee filters which are very thin and are distributed in tightly compacted nested dish-shaped stacks, making the manual access to a single one of these filters very difficult, frustrating and time consuming. In addition to this difficulty, the consumer, many times, may actually be using two filters at a time which are stuck together and because of the thinness of the filters, goes unnoticed.
In an effort to overcome this difficulty, Reiber U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,297 discloses a grasping device which has a frame adapted to be held generally stationary with respect to the article being grasped and two manually operated tweezer legs with a stationary leg between the two moveable legs. These legs are capped on the ends with a rubber material by which to pinch the flat bottom of the inside filter of a nested stack against the stationary leg with one or both of the moveable legs, then the entire device along with the pinched filter is raised up out of the pack where the filter may be grasped. The device is also designed to fit atop the pack of filters through an opening in the top of the box which the filters are distributed in.
While Reiber's device provides gripping means, it is large, bulky, complex to use, and complex to manufacture in comparison with the present invention. It is also, therefore, more costly to manufacture and much more costly to the consumer. It is designed for use in conjunction with the box which the filters are distributed in and therefore requires more storage space. The grasping device requires coordinated finger pressure which must be maintained while the entire device is lifted to a height to which it clears the top of the filters and box to where the filter can be grasped, and then the device must be placed back into position. Additionally, if this maneuver were to take place inside a cupboard, substantial room above the box and device would be required.
The present invention eliminates all of the above complexities and requirements. It can be manufactured in high volume at a very fast rate and very low cost via plastic injection molding, thus low in cost to the consumer. It requires little or no assembly, since it consists of only one or two plastic injected pieces (depending on the alternative used) and is much more convenient and easy to use. As will become apparent in the description, there are alternatives which are even less costly to produce than the above mentioned mode of manufacture.